i dont know if this counts as rock but here’s one of the most obscure pop/dance stars who was popular in Europe for a few years and 15 minutes here in the 80s but no one under 40 remembers her now
not bad for someone who taught her self to sing in English
The Bears, a pretty good power pop group out of Cincinnati:
I always really liked Deaf School’s Capaldi’s Cafe. If nothing else, pretty incredible example of the big rock finish.
And not all that obscure, but I never understood why TRB wasn’t more popular.
I get a kick out of “The Shape Of Things To Come” and the goofy movie it was featured in (I have the soundtrack album). On the other hand, the recording of the title tune (on the album, anyway) features possibly the worst, most amateurish stereo mix of all time.
Here’s some obscure rock & roll that will blow your mind, man. Bedrock stuff.
I love “Moulty,” by The Barbarians. Fun fact: Moulty lost his hand when a home made pipe bomb went off.
Interesting… I was also thinking of some prog rock by an obscure metal band. Lucifer’s Friend started off as a heavy metal band but quickly started incorporating prog and jazz into their music.
Getting In Gear by Jeff Cameron
A couple of hours before this thread was started, I just got home from a used book/DVD/CD/record/etc. store with this Sun Records box set. One track in the set:
Only album from a UK group of young musicians. Released in 1971, very Zeppliny. Really good album, available on Spotify.
I don’t know if I’m stretching the term “Rock and Roll” too far, but I’ll offer a Kraut Rock track by Amon Düül II from 1972 that was trip hop almost twenty years before Massive Attack, Tricky or Portishead.
Starcastle, “Fountains of Light” album, kicking off with the track “Fountains.”
From the summer of 1993, the single from an album that got extensive airplay in my college town, but apparently nowhere else: Candy Skins’ “Fun”, and the song “Wembley.” I have the CD, so IDK if the whole album, which is awesome, is available online anywhere else. If it isn’t, it should be.
Riggs had a couple of songs in the movie Heavy Metal, including the opening number “Radar Rider”.
Their song “Ready or Not” really rocks, though!
I love KAK. Pretty interesting that this group was put together in an impromptu fashion to back Gary Lee Yoder for a one-off album, was together a total of 12 weeks, performed live only a couple of times at best, yet the album stayed in print (perhaps off and on) for several decades. Blue Cheer’s album “Oh Pleasant Hope” can almost be counted as KAK 2. At that time, Yoder was the dominant creative force in the band and he brought in a couple of KAK bandmates for the sessions.
Black Monk Time is one of the best albums of all time!
Check out the Youtube vid of them performing on TAMI and you will find that Moulty was a kick-ass drummer, hook or no.
My favorite bay area band (no longer together unfortunately) La Plebe. Spanish-language punk ska:
They did my favourite cover of (of my favorite Clash song) Guns of Brixton
My recommendations are High Time by MC5 and USA by Bloodrock. High Time was a studio triumph for the group. It featured lots of multi-tracked blistering guitar and killer songs with intelligent social commentary. Unfortunately, it was their last album. USA is a great mix of heavy-ish metal, southern rock and prog with thoughtful, socially poignant lyrics. Potential for hits may have been there (check out “Rock and Roll Candyman”), but the shadow of “DOA” may have blocked the path for further success. It was the last album that included Lee Picken’s, lead guitar, and Jim Rutledge, lead vocal. It was their first not to be produced by Terry Knight of Grand Funk fame. To my ears, that was an improvement.
Holy crap, I forgot all about “Why Me?” I remember hearing it as a kid on Chicago radio, enough that I remember a lot of the words.
My favorite recent discovery is Wire Train. Their album In a Chamber is fantastic, and the song “I Forget It All (When I See You)” is a lost classic.
Far out!
